


Immortal Woes

by BlazGear



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Abuse, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Godly Bullshit, M/M, Non-Canon Story, Past Child Abuse, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-01-16 03:01:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12334158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlazGear/pseuds/BlazGear
Summary: "Nine half-bloods will save us allThe fallen shall return, and stop the fallLove, Beast, and Blessed shall journey westSea, Death, and War face the blestDesire runs wild, and takes the SkyWho shall be saved by the one who gave an eyeThe destroyer shall bear the high, and bore them downAnd the end shall come from the one with the crown."





	1. Lucia Rosa: Two Hot Guys and a Pen (Prologue)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucia meets two odd boys. She didn't expect to get dragged to Rome, but it was what happened.

Lucia's day started like any other day for me. Some toast and coffee, a nice and light shower, and my dog being murdered by two guys with a pen and a stick. Yep, completely normal. Of course that's not normal, but that's been her morning ever since I went to college in California.

She wakes up, and chases two guys away from my dog, and then go about my mornings routine. Read book, painting a gallery, and all the things a Disney princess does. That's the exact OPPOSITE of her morning. She wakes up, get dressed, and try and fine tune the paper she finished last night before sprinting across the street to my college campus.

Today was different though. This the stupid guy with the pen actually talked to me. Though what they were saying she didn't know. Sounded Greek, but she didn't how to speak it. She didn't even know she could narrow it down to Greek.

It took a few seconds before the blond guy with the stick smacked him on the shoulder and spoke to her in ENGLISH thankfully. "Why do you keep standing up for that hellhound?"

"That _hellhound_ is my dog. Why do you keep trying to kill it." She wasn't normally a person for confrontations, but she was getting sick of having to chase these two guys off while they tried to stab her dog.

"If you know it's a hellhound, you should let us kill it! It could hurt someone." The blond haired boy seemed quite insistent on murdering her dog. she just looked at him, as threatening as she could despite being shorter and smaller then both of the boys there.

"I'm not letting you just, stab my dog. That's animal abuse, and I'm sure a lot of people would be on my side about this." Lucia looks at the blond straight in the eyes, her brown eyes against his electric blue eyes. 

"I know a lot of animal lovers, I'm sure they'd be on our side about putting that dog down." The darker haired boy broke between the blond and Lucia, and looked into her eyes with his own. They were sea green, and reminded her of the ocean, calm before it dragged you down and left you to drown, and die.

"Well then you know some messed up animal lovers." Lucia turned up her nose at the boy, moving back toward her dog to make sure they hadn't seriously hurt it with their stupid poking. 

"You really shouldn't get too close to that." The boy with blond hair looked at her, concern in his voice, his hand tightening on the stick he was holding.

"It's my dog, I can get close to it if I want to." Lucia tries to ignore the boy, as pretty and concerned as he may be, and started to let her dog. She smiles at the touch, and the fur, and the smell of a clean dog. She almost missed it when the small and innocent dog flickered into something bigger, and scarier.

"What was that!?" Lucia jerks away from the dog she was just petting, trying to write off the brief image as just a hallucination from still waking up. But she had her coffee that morning and was fairly awake from all the yelling she had done at the two boys. All she can do is slowly look at the two boys.

"What we were trying to tell you about." The dark haired boy looks at her in the eyes. A cold feeling washed over Lucia as the pen in his hand turned into a bronze sword, and the stick in the blond boy's hand turned into a golden one.

"Move!" Lucia feels her arm get grabbed, and dragged, and all she can do is follow, trying to build up the courage to look back. All she knows is that she can hear the thing she once called her dog behind her, sounding VERY not dog like.

"We could just kill it Percy!" The blond haired boy yells at the dark haired one, sword in hand as he runs.

"We could, but then she'd be mad at us!" The dark haired one, Percy, retorted sarcastically, smirking at the blond haired one, before looking at Lucia.

"I changed my mind! Stab it!" Lucia runs, following the two boys, breathing heavy as the world starts to bend and change around her. The best way she could describe it later was like removing a filter from a photo. The world became more real and more like it originally was.

Of course that thought didn't make the thing chasing them seem any less dangerous, and it was all she could do to keep up with the taller and more fit boys. She made a mental note to become a cat person when this was over.

"Quick, through there!" The blond one pointed to what seemed like an access tunnel by a highway, and Lucia runs full sprint towards t and reaches for the handle. 

She almost reached the handle before she was knocked to the ground by the monster chasing them. She got up and was looking straight at the teeth of the monster, which seemed to be a large dog, and decided that she hated dogs.

She stared at the teeth, and as it pounced, took a single step back as a golden streak pierced the side of the dog, and it exploded into dust, and started to melt into shadows. Lucia makes the mistake to open her mouth and gets a mouth full of dog dust, and leaves her sputtering on the ground. The world starts to spin and fade, and it takes her a moment to realize the fading is her eyes slowly closing, as her head hits the ground.


	2. Jaden Argus: Love Conquers All... or so they say (Prolouge)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A hellhound chasing two famous demigods and a potential recruit up to their door? Of course it happened the one time he was on watch.

_Nothing good EVER came from being on guard duty._ That's what Jaden thought as he saw THE Jason Grace and Percy Jackson running from a hellhound with a girl following them, running for her life. Of course he had to do something, he WAS on the clock, but he was sure the two demigods could handle it.

That's what he thought until they let the thing actually get close to the new girl. That's when he had to step in, letting the arrow he had prepared fly. Archery wasn't very Roman a few years back, but that changed once Frank Zhang became praetor, and basically destroyed any bias towards "un-Roman" styles of fighting, like Calvary or Archery. It made it easier for Jaden at least, since his main weapons were small knives, which didn't work well against the traditional Roman weapons of the Legion.

"Nice shot, got it in the neck!" The dark haired boy, the famous Percy Jackson, a Greek and the first praetor of the Legion to be Greek... and he was also the shortest lived praetor in history. A mere day before he stepped down for Jason Grace to be praetor... who stepped down for Frank Zhang. Greeks and their influence were strange, but not necessarily bad.

"You could have killed it yourself!"... is what Jaden wanted to say. But these were seasoned veterans, with numerous quests and victories under their belts. So Jaden did what any self-respecting Roman would do. He tripped and fell on the way to check on the situation.

Jaden felt his face turn red against his will, because he just tripped in front of two of the most powerful demigods of the generation. Thankfully they didn't laugh at him, but being a child of Venus didn't exactly make Jaden someone worth respecting.

Sure one of the Seven, seven of the most powerful demigods, had been a child of Aphrodite, but she also was seen as weaker BECAUSE of that. Because she was a child of Love, and not a child of a "powerful" god or goddess like with Percy Jackson, Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, or Hazel Levesque. Annabeth Chase, Piper McLean and Leo Valdez were the "underdogs" of their group, which wasn't bad... but sharing a godly parent with Piper still didn't make him feel any stronger, unlike with the children of Mars.

"Ave, Centurion Argus, your aim is getting better." Jason smiled back at Jaden, and that was enough for Jaden to snap out of his humiliation to stand up. His armor was now covered in mud, and his helmet was off, but he had received praise from two of the Seven, even if Percy had seemed to be joking.

"Thank you." Jaden's response was short, respectful, and had a slight edge of concern. Jason Grace rarely dropped in with new demigods, and also normally didn't lead monsters to right outside the enterance to New Rome.

"You're doing good kid, you're on...five years of service now?" Percy hit Jaden's shoulder, as a friendly gesture, but that comment just made Jaden even more suspicious.

"I'm on ten years... Percy." Jaden had never met Percy Jackson personally. He knew that Percy Jackson was a renowned demigod, and he had seen him in action in the Battle of New Rome, and the final battle of the Giant War, but he hadn't ever talked to the guy.

He was imposing in the way the ocean was. He seemed calm on the surface, but he had heard stories of his deeds. Defeating Mars in one on one combat, facing down multiple giants alone, even forgoing immortality to be with his friends. He was strong, courageous and kind. He was what he saw the Greek heroes to be. He worked better in small groups rather than in something like the Legion, even if he was strong enough to become a praetor.

"So, who's that?" Jaden looked at the now unconscious girl. She was rather plain looking, but if she was running from the hellhound, she had to have some sort of divine purpose, otherwise she WOULDN'T see it.

"Oh uh, we have no clue." Percy seemed laid back about the fact that they had brought some random person to the entrance of New Rome.

"But she saw the hellhound... after a couple encounters. So she needs to be protected. If she can see it, she may be like, an Oracle or something." Oracles were a Greek idea. Women who saw the future, and spat prophecies. Romans didn't exactly have Oracles, but they got by.

"So, will you let us take her into New Rome?" Jason spoke calmly, and seemed to be in "mediator mode" as he had heard other demigods call it. Jaden could only sigh at the fact that of course something like this would happen on his turn for watch.

"Alright, you can. But I'm going with you, and you're carrying her." Jaden tried his best to be imposing, but he didn't have the courage to actually threaten Jason Grace and Percy Jackson, so he just picked up his helmet, put it on, turned and moved to open the door to New Rome. Something told him that he was going to regret this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I'm going to try and make this as canon compliant as possible... for someone who hasn't read Magnus Chase or the Trials of Apollo.
> 
> Also, exposition, wow!


	3. Maria Seikatsu: My Sister Is A Ghost (Prolouge)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria never thought much about life and death, but she's going to have to If why the ghost in front of her is telling her.

"You need to go to California. My brother is there, and he needs your help." The olive skinned girl standing in front of Maria trying to drag her, despite the fact that her hands weren't touching Maria sounded desperate, but she got points for trying.

"California? That's all the way across the country!" Maria could feel the stares all around her, as she realized that no one could see the girl she was yelling at, but this girl was asking her to go across the country to help a guy that she didn't even know.

"Please... something is happening, and the dead are restless and I'm scared that if he tries to control them, they'll betray him." The girl sounded like she was trying to not cry, but Maria thought she could see the start of a tear in her eyes. 

"But why me? Why can't you get someone in California to help him?" Maria questioned the girl ghost thing.

"Because the only one there that can help is gone on a quest. I need someone that can see me to help him." The girl floated around Maria's head, the silvery jacket she was wearing when she had died shining brighter as she spoke.

"Why can't you help him yourself? He can see you right?" 

"He... thinks I moved on. I hid from him in Elysium when he came to bring me back to life. I can't face him after abandoning him twice." The girl sounds remorseful the silvery jacket and her tears practically shining.

"Can you at least tell me your name?" Maria wanted something to call this girl who was pleading for her help.

"My name... is Bianca di Angelo, and I'm a daughter of Hades, just like you. My brother, Nico needs your help, please."

Maria looked at this ghost, claiming to be her sister and begging for her help, tempted to ignore her and act like she normally did when a ghost talked to her in public, but she seemed so desperate and so scared that Maria couldn't say no, even if every alarm bell in her head was going off at once.

"Alright, I'll help you. But... how am I going to get to California in time to help?"

"You'll have to shadow travel." Bianca answers, pointing at the alley down the block.

"Shadow travel? What's that?" Maria raised an eyebrow at the idea of traveling through shadows.

"I.. don't know much about it myself, I just know that all shadows are connected, and that children of Hades can use them to travel. Children of the dark and all." Bianca spoke like she was reading off a textbook, and Maria didn't have the best feeling about that.

"All right then, you sound crazy, but I'm the one talking to a ghost, so I guess I'm crazy too." Maria sighs as she starts to walk towards the alley, the ghost of her "sister" floating around her.

"You just imagine where you want to go, and step into the shadow, so try and imagine some place close to the ground." Bianca spoke as they walked into the alley, and Maria looked at the shadows on the wall.

"So... I just... imagine and step in." Maria tried to think about what she knew of California and thought of the beach, nice and warm, as she stepped into the shadows.

Bianca hadn't warned her that the shadows would drag her down, or that it was freezing in the shadows or even that she'd move so fast she felt like she had jumped off a building. It lasted a few moments, and definitely longer than Maria wanted it to, before she landed in what seemed to be a river.

She almost felt relieved before she heard the sound of a blade being unsheathed, and the cries of people around her, as she looked up at a women in a purple shirt and golden armor, a golden and silver dog on each side of her. with the scariest face she had ever seen in her life.

Bianca was so getting a piece of Maria's mind, whether Maria lived or died from this women stabbing her, or having her dogs maul her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahah, I had to write Bianca in some how. I love her too much to not have her in here, and a spirit guide couldn't hurt anyone.


	4. Lucia Rosa: The Gods Stole My Pepsi and Called Me A Bitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucia wakes up inside an infirmary after dreaming of a talking cow. Her day was just getting weirder

Lucia was never one to say that dreams didn't mean anything. More times than not, her dreams were rather helpful, giving her some idea of people to avoid, though she always knew those people were bad for her.

But when she "woke up" in her dream to be face to face with a pure white cow and a bright glowing peacock on its back, she was pretty sure whatever that dog was made of got her high.

"Lucia Rosa, daughter of Jordan and Juanita Rosa, you who are but a mortal and have no godly relation to speak of, are needed." The peacock, or maybe the cow, spoke in a woman's voice. Lucia decided to lay off the dog dust from now on.

"Godly... relation?" Lucia wasn't one to pray to gods, or to say they didn't exist. The "god" or "gods" of different religions didn't mean much to her. They were there or maybe they weren't she didn't care. But still, a talking peacock or cow referring to her like that sent a shiver down her spine.

"You are destined to save my husband from the grips of a cruel, and manipulative foe. Love itself." The peacock, Maria decided, lowered its voice while speaking about love, like it was a sentient being that could hear it.

"Save your husband from... love?"

"Love is more dangerous than you think. He is even crueler than Death, and he has grown tired of listing to Beauty. I will bless you, like I have blessed the other mortal hero, Jason." The peacock sounded like this should be an honor.

"Save your husband from Love because he's sick of obeying Beauty? Blessing like Jason?" Lucia was confused but sighed, and decided the only way to wake up from this drug trip was to agree to the peacock's request. "Fine, I'll do it."

"I knew you would. Now, when you wake the Romans will try and feed you. Accept it, but wait to eat, else you will burn to ass. Look for the one who is as much of a beast as a man, and the one who can see the dead. They will aid you on your quest. Now wake my champion, and save Olympus from Love."

Before Lucia could question what the peacock meant, the vision fades, and she jerks upward on what seemed like a cot, and headbutted an idiot who was right in her face. Lucia winced, before looking at the boy she had headbutted. The boy was rubbing his head, his olive toned skin, black hair, and an aviator jacket making him seem very much not like a doctor.

"Who are you?" Lucia decided that even if she was in no position to be asking questions. She noticed a plate of what seemed like orange juice and a brownie on it. At least they were going to give a girl chocolate after her dog turned into a demon and chased her across the city.

The boy looked at Lucia and hesitated, before saying, "My name is Nico di Angelo... and you're a mortal." The boy had a calm and stoic demeanor despite being noticeably younger than Lucia, and an even more noticeably wary look in his eyes.

"Mortal? As opposed to... immortal?" Lucia was sure that this boy was going to say something stupid, like out of a mystery novel or a fantasy novel.

"You don't have any godly blood, and you're not a nymph or a monster. You're a mortal, a human, but you could see that hellhound." Nico talks in a quiet tone, slowly and like she was an idiot, but given what he was saying, she didn't blame him.

"Godly blood like... Jesus?" Lucia was sure she was wrong, but she wasn't one for mythological creatures.

"Zeus, Poseidon, Pluto, Bellona, and on and on." The boy lists the names off like he was reading his contacts from his cellphone.

"Greek... and Rome?" As much as Lucia wasn't one for mythology, she at least knew this much.

"They're very real. They even have kids, and give birth to demigods. Though, that doesn't apply to you."

"Then I'm not a child of the gods?" Lucia wasn't sure if she was glad or disappointed, a pit starting to form in her stomach.

"Not from what I can tell. Some mortals can see monsters and the gods, which is where you fall I guess." Nico doesn't show much emotion as he moves towards a door, making the pit in Lucia's stomach even worse.

"So... What now?" Lucia asks the question on her mind, her fear starting to get the best of her.

Nico stops at the door, hand on the knob, and looks at her before answering. "That's up for Praetor Ramírez-Arellano and Praetor Zhang to decide." His words have a less than ominous tone, but his unnerving appearance made Lucia fear his words even more as he walks out the door, leaving her alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to do the multiple perspectives of the books, so tell me if I'm doing anything wrong on that.


	5. Jaden Argus: Love Is A Bitch, Trust Me, She's My Mom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaden didn't want to fall in love with every guy he met. His mom just didn't like him, that's all. That still didn't make talking to a surperior officer any easier.

Love sucks, Jaden comes to that conclusion for the millionth time today. Not just the emotion itself, but also his mom. He doesn't now what he did to deserve being cursed, but he didn't appreciate it.

Falling in love once was enough to make someone a stammering idiot, but falling in love with every guy he makes eye contact with? That was enough to make him want to walk up to Jupiter and ask him to just kill him now.

All these thoughts run through his head as he explains to praetor Zhang what happened. Frank Zhang was the one that made him realize something was wrong with him. Falling for no reason, suddenly when he looked him in the eyes.

"So, Percy and Jason were running with a girl from a hellhound, towards camp? Is that what really happened?" Frank asked, his tone is questioning, but not dismissing the possibility. Jayden could only guess that it was because of his personal knowledge of them.

"That's right. Once they got close enough that I could shoot it without hitting them by accident, I killed it." Jaden knows how monsters work after ten years of dealing with them, but the idea of these monsters, terrible and horrible things, coming back after however many years to terrorize people again.

That thought made his heart ache, his mind hurt, and a feeling of hopelessness weigh on him. But he shakes it off, because he is a member of the Twelfth Legion. He was a son of one of the oldest goddesses, even if she was a pain in his butt that he wanted to leave him alone.

"Jaden, you did the right thing, waiting for a clear shot, and I trust you but why would they not just kill the hellhound themselves?" Frank asks politely and only slightly sternly.

"I don't know. I didn't ask." Jaden realized his mistake almost immediately, but he already said it, so he might as well roll with it.

Frank just sighs, smiling at Jaden, annoyingly making Jaden's heart beat faster. "Well, I'll ask them later. You can go now." 

"O-ok!" Jaden mentally kicks himself as his face flushes, and he hurries out of the praetor villa, trying to not trip, or fall or even just say something stupid.

All Jaden could think as he left was that he probably made an idiot out of himself, blushing and leaving so hastily. He hated this curse, falling for anyone who looked in his eyes. That's why he kept his eyes down, kept his voice down, stayed in the background.

Love would only hurt him, his father had made it very clear. Marrying a goddess didn't do his father any favors, and her disappearance had driven him over the edge. Marrying the goddess of beauty was something no homeless person should have been able to do, but he somehow did it.

Her leaving sent him over the edge, and Jaden was left to watch the world crash around him. The scars on his back and legs started to ache at the thought, flashes of blood spotting his vision.

So he walked to a coffee shop near the barracks that was quick and tasted like nothing special. He didn't want to wait in a long line for coffee. That was just a hassle, and he just wanted to not sleep. Sleep meant seeing his mother, and his mother meant waking up with longer hair and some clothes that aren't his style.

He doesn't notice that he's going to walk into someone, until he collides with the girl, and she topples over. He reaches to help her up, as she looks up and their eyes meet. They were stormy and grey, and beautiful. He mentally cursed as he helped her up, and started to walk away, trying to not look back.

He didn't to fall in love with Annabeth Chase of all people. She was taken, and Jaden didn't feel a particular want to get murdered by Percy Jackson or Annabeth Chase today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always wanted a child of Aphrodite/Venus to love more than they were loved, I dunno why.


	6. Maria Seikatsu: I Meet A Warrior And Swear On a Styx

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria starts to think listening to a ghost of a little girl who died years ago was a bad idea.

Maria liked to believe that she was a dog liver, and that dogs loved her. Apparently that didn't apply to gold and silver dogs who were owned by the scariest girl Maria ever saw with a spear pointed at her face.

She was also aware of the fact that she was freezing either because she was soaked or some residue from the shadow traveling, but given the golden spear tip on her nose and the two dogs on either side of her, she wasn't going to risk dying on her knees, so she stood up and tried to look like she had some idea what in the gods names she was doing there.

"Hi, my name is Maria Seikatsu, and I'm looking for someone named... di Angelo?" Maria looked the woman with the spear in the eyes, trying to not let her terror show.

The dogs on each side of her looked at the woman, before sitting down, no longer growling at her at least. The woman lowered her spear, extremely slowly, but her eyes kept the same steely and wary look in them.

"Why do you want to see Nico." The girl's voice sounded defensive, almost like she was protecting a sibling, her hand tightening around the shaft of her spear.

Maria looked around, Bianca still not anywhere to be found, and she decided that maybe Bianca had just tricked her. Might as well tell the truth, because she had a feeling this girl wouldn't hesitate to stab her if she lied. "I was told to look for him by... a ghost."

Surprsingly, the girl's face softened a slight bit, her stance softening slight enough that it could be relaxed, without losing the ability to defend herself. "He is a son of Hades, so a ghost needing him wouldn't be strange... but how did you shadow travel?"

"The ghost told me how to." Maria was glad she wasn't going to be mauled yet, but from what she knew about Hades, and Greek Mythology in general, she was pretty sure Hades was married to another goddess. Some nature goddess or something.

"If you can shadow travel... You either had help from a child of Hades or Pluto, or you are one." The girl looked at Maria with narrowed eyes, twisting a ring on her hand.

"Child of Pluto... like the planet?" Maria looked at the other girl, her mind looking over her rather limited Greek knowledge for a Pluto, but she was coming up blank.

"Pluto is the Roman version of Hades. Pluto and Hades have children here. Nico di Angelo happens to be one of them. He is one of the few gods to only have a few children each generation, along with the maiden goddesses, and Neptune.

"So being his daughter would be... bad?" Maria tries to wrap her head around the possibility that one of her dads could be some Ancient Greek god of the afterlife, but the idea seemed too ridiculous to consider true.

But then again she had stepped through a shadow based on the words of a ghost to find some guy halfway across the country, so she couldn't say that she was in a position to write off the possibility.

"Bad wouldn't be the right word for it. More it would be unexpected. Pluto was always faithful to his wife, Proserpina, and if he betrayed her, the person was always someone special, and important to the fate of the world. He also wasn't like his brother Jupiter who... got around." 

"That sounds... interesting." Maria remembers something about Zeus having children with lots of people around Ancient Greece. Clearly Hades was a more reserved god.

"...If you swear on the River Styx that you won't hurt Nico intentionally, I will take you to him." The girls voice became deadly serious, and Maria felt the air around her drop a couple degrees.

"On the River Styx?" Maria remembers a vague story about a river of broken dreams and promises, but she couldn't see why swearing on it would be a good thing.

"According to the Greek demigods, breaking an oath made on the River Styx will lead to a fate worse than death. A fate even gods fear, and that makes them abide by their oaths." The girl's voice is serious, and Maria could tell this wasn't just some cruel or weird joke.

"I swear on the River Styx that I will not intentionally hurt Nico di Angelo if you take me to him." Maria feels a presence as she says the words, a hand on her shoulder, and she hears Bianca say it along with her. Even if the other girl couldn't hear her, Maria had a feeling the oath would be binding.

"Very well. My name is Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano. I am one of the two praetors here in New Rome. If you are an invader, or have some sort of trick planned, I will make sure you be found and captured. But for now, you are welcome here." Reyna's tone was harsh, patent and cold, but she still took Maria by the wrist and walked with her, even if it felt more like a pull, to where Nico hopefully was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha, I have like a middle point planned and nothing else... so yeah, I'm trying my best I guess.


	7. Lucia Rosa: Warm Feelings and Jealousy Speaks. Literally.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucia receives a visit from a goddess, and she wishes she was dreaming.

After the ominous words the boy, Nico, said Lucia did the only thing she could do in the situation. Try the food that he left by her nightstand.

As she reached for the plate of food, and took a bite, she was surprised by the taste. It was burning hot, despite it seeming to have sat there for a while, and it tasted extremely bitter.

She grabs the drink and takes a tentative drink, afraid that it would be worse. She was right, it was terrible. It felt like drinking fire and knives, cutting and burning her throat, leaving her sputtering and coughing, before the pain in her neck eased, like it never was there in the first place.

Lucia finished the plate, gagging and coughing as it hurt and cut her throat, and took a look around at where they left her.

The room around her was plain, and seemed to be some sort of infirmary. There were plenty of cots around the room like the one she had been sleeping, and each had a nightstand by the side of the bed. There were purple banners with the letters SPQR on them, which Lucia was sure was significant for some reason.

Lucia felt something brush her legs, and she realizes that they had changed her out of her pajamas, and changed her into a purple shirt, with the SPQR from the banners on it, and into a skirt.

Lucia took a moment to be thankful that she wasn't going to be walking around in her pajama, as she gets up and moves towards the door, and places her hand on the golden doorknob.

"I wouldn't go out there just yet." A woman's voice came from behind Lucia, and Lucia turned around in a start, looking for the owner of the voice that she hadn't seen when she looked around the room before.

The woman was infuriatingly beautiful, with pale white skin, and long black hair. Her face was made up with red eyeshadow and red lipstick, and she wore a white dress, with red spots and tears all over it, looking startling like a stab victim.

"Ah, I can see why Juno chose you as their hero. I must admit, being a maiden or being loyal has never suited the immortals. We were always destined to make offspring, and make them better than mortals." The woman's voice was cold and soft, and it sent a shiver up Lucia's back. She couldn't help but look at this woman, jealous at how she could be so beautiful in such a simple outfit.

"You're a goddess? Are you... Aphrodite?" Lucia runs through the very limited list of Greek and Roman gods she knew, settling on the goddess of beauty, since the woman before her WAS beautiful.

The woman laughed, a sound of pure coldness and amusement. "I am not Venus. I am not so vain as to say that I am as beautiful as her. I am Invidia, goddess of jealousy and envy. The Greeks and Romans have cast off this name however, and refer to me as Nemesis." Invidia smiled coldly, her tone giving away her annoyance at the idea.

"If you're the goddess of envy... why are you here?" Lucia looked at the goddess, hoping that the goddess wasn't in the mood to kill a mortal, like so many stories seemed to depict.

"I am here, because New Rome is exerting a lot of jealousy towards you. Either for being a mortal, or being rescued by two of the world's saviors, or even for your looks. Jealousy never truly fades away, but the Romans here have a tendency to try and hide from it." The woman smiled, almost blissfully at the idea of jealousy.

"So... because people are jealous, you're here? But what do you want with me?" Lucia tried to wrap her head around the explanation this goddess gave for her being here, and she was sure a goddess wouldn't waste time talking for no reasons.

"I am here, because I would like to give you a gift. You, who are blessed as Juno's champion, I shall give you a gift. I shall make your words like a magic and you will be able to charm your way past all others." Invidia moves forward and tapes Lucia on the head, a warm feeling spreading through Lucia's body.

"Now go, and meet the Romans. Your quest awaits. Invidia pushed Lucia through the door, and before the door the shut in behind Lucia, she could catch a glimpse of the goddess disappearing.

Lucia felt like she wanted to run and hide, meeting a bunch of Romans made her stomach fall and she feels horrible. But she bites on her lip, and starts walk, ready to meet her destiny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Invidia is kind of the Roman equivalent of Nemesis, but since Nemesis says the Romans only saw her as Nemesis in MoA, Invidia is kind of seperate from her.


	8. Jaden Argus: Curses and Quests, A Demigod's Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All Jayden wanted was to be free from his curse, and to love someone and live a happy ending. Of course some stubborn girl would try and drag him on a quest.

When Jayden joined the Legion, he knew there was a chance he wouldn't be able to live happily for a long time. He could die in battle, or on a quest, or he could be cursed by the gods, angry at their children for no real reason.

Having one of the most spiteful Olympians as a mother didn't help that fact. Venus was known to curse people who did something wrong against love. So it made sense that he would be cursed.

_"You are a child of Love, yet you cast off your birthright. You act like you are a Hunter, and yet you can't help but hide those rotten feelings you say you hate in your heart. You will show that feeling you're ashamed of to everyone you see._

Jayden walks, remembering the day he was cursed, and he has to remember to not clench his fist and grit his teeth. He walks with no direction in mind, just wanting to not be near the same people for too long.

It took the curse five days to make him fall for everyone in the Legion. It took him six days to decide that he hated it. But he couldn't do anything about it, so he dealt with it like everyone his age dealt with love. Extreme awkwardness, and trying to surpress emotions.

It didn't work well very well, but it worked just enough for him to deal with it. It worked just enough for him to get through the day, and then the week, and then the months, and then the years.

Jayden kept walking, eyes down, walking, preparing to get stopped by someone to talk, to be social. Instead, he walks into a girl and he stumbles backwards to avoid falling. Jayden looks up to see who he bumped into.

"Watch it!" the girl snapped, glaring daggers and spears at him. She was blond, with her hair short, wearing a purple SPQR shirt and a light yellow skirt. She seemed familiar, but the clothes seemed completely alien on her. Her posture wasn't stiff or disciplined, and she didn't show a tattoo on her forearm, or any scars along her hands, arms and face.

"Sorry..." Jayden mumbles trying to just get away from the girl, who from his gathering, had just arrived here.

"Sorry alone won't cut it." The girl walks over to Jayden, and grabs his ear, like something out of a comedy show. Jayden couldn't help but laugh slightly, before she started to pull and _Jupiter above_ that hurt.

"You're going to take me to who's in charge here, and they are going to explain to me what a quest is." The girl pulls harder, clearly having no regard for the boy's health.

"Let me g- ow!" The girl was stronger than she looked, and she pulled Jayden's face up to hers. Her eyes were a startling shade of blue. Almost electric blue, like a bolt of lightning was encapsulated in her eyes.

"Take me there!" The girl started to twist his ear, and if it hurt before _it really_ hurt now. Jayden was pretty sure she was going to rip his ears off.

"ALRIGHT, I'LL TAKE YOU!" Jayden forces her to let go of his ear. He looks back at the girl, who had a smirk on his face, and her hair was disheaved from him pushing her off him. Then it hits him who she was.

"You were that girl who was being chased by that hellhound." Jayden realizes that he could be describing thousands upon thousands of demigod encounters.

"I have a name too. My name is Lucia." The girl, Lucia, looked at Jayden with a look of exasperation on her face. She had her hands on her hips, and she was wearing a pair of slippers on her feet, so she wasn't the scariest thing Jayden had faced, but she was the scariest person he'd have met.

"Ok, ok, Lucia... you can't just go get a quest. The gods have to issue it and then the senate has to has to ok it! You can't just run off on your own."

"Then I'll go to the senate and tell them a magic peacock and a goddess of envy told me to go on a quest, without telling me what it is." Lucia looked pissed, and despite being unarmed, Jayden had a feeling she could stare down a hellhound and make it sit and stay.

"You can't just do that, especially if you don't know what the quest is." Jayden sighed exasperatedly. 

"Then I'll go by myself and figure it out as I go." Lucia retorted.

"Just calm down, running into the senate building and requesting a quest right after you got here is insane." 

"So is the fact that ancient myths are real and rule the world from behind the scenes!" Lucia glares even more at Jayden, and a shiver goes up his spine.

"You ARE going to help me get the senate to issue this quest." Lucia's voice changed, and it sounded more beautiful, more magical more... divine.

"You're so stubborn, you haven't even been here for a day. You haven't even been CLAIMED."

"Who gives a flying flip about being claimed. The magic peacock and the lady in a blood stained dress seemed very insistent on me going on some quest."

"I don't think the senate will care if JUPITER HIMSELF issued the quest if you aren't claimed." Jayden waits for lightning to strike, before looking back at Lucia

"If the senate won't let me go, then I'll let them worry about the peacock and envy lady."

"I'm sure they can wait for you to be claimed."

"Hmmph."

"Gods of Olympus you're annoyingly stubborn."

"Thanks." Lucia smirked.

"If I don't help you, you're just going to storm into the senate building anyways aren't you."

"Yep."

"...Fine I'll help... AFTER you're claimed, not before." Jayden tries his best to wolf stare her, but he had always been told that his was a rather weak one (just another perk of being a Venus spawn).

Lucia paused for a moment, her face a blank slate, before smirking and replying, "Fine, but you have to buy me dinner."

"If buying you dinner prevents you from being an idiot in front of the senate, I'll do it."

"Perfect, now, where's the best Italian place here?" Lucia grabbed Jayden's arm, smiling softly, her blue eyes light, like a calm sky.

 _"Stupid curse, stupid girl, stupid quests, stupid Venus."_ Jayden mentally reprimanded himself, before replying.

"I'll take you there, but this ISN'T a date." Jayden raised his voice denying the idea to no one in particular.

"Alright tough guy, lead the way." Lucia smirked at Jayden, her voice still having that magical filter on it. Jayden decided to ignore it as he started to walk, ignoring the voices of Cupid and Venus telling him to accept his feelings once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aphrodite cursed a LOT of people in Greece, including a lot of mortals.
> 
> Also, two of the three initial protagonists have met now, so that's fun.


	9. Maria Seikatsu: Nature Hates Reyna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Find Nico di Angelo, that's all she wanted to do. So why was nature attacking her?

Maria didn't know what she was expecting when she signed up for this trip across the country to find a ghost's brother. What she did know was that she wasn't expecting the trees to try and stop her.

New Rome was beautiful as she walked through it with Reyna. The air was filled with smells of brownies, and sweets, and all kinds of food. The buildings were solid, and were practically new, and the people were generally very nice. Compared to home, she couldn't help but smile. Maybe this place was worth staying in.

"You like it here?" Reyna had noticed Maria's smile and the way her eyes lit up from walking through New Rome. It was a common reaction to New Rome. A safe place for demigods was hard to come by, much less a safe place so large and beautiful as New Rome.

"It's so... welcoming. But I can't stay." Maria's face fell at the idea of leaving such a beautiful place. But she was only here to help Bianca, nothing more. Even if the idea of living here was tempting, and she felt more at home here than back home, she couldn't stay.

Reyna's face softened, if only a slight amount. "I see children of the Underworld having a hard time staying in one place is a shared trait."

"I'm only here to help this ghost, then I'm going back home." Maria says it like she means it, but somehow, she feels like she's not convincing Reyna, much less herself.

"Well, even if you leave, you can always come back here." Reyna's tone sounded softer and nicer than she had sounded before, almost like she was talking to a younger sibling.

"That sounds... nice." Maria smiles, the image of her living a happy life making her happy.

"Demigods are always welcom-" Reyna starts to speak, but stops talking, her eyes darting around her, a look of determination on her face.

Maria stopped walking, and looks around herself, a feeling of dread making a pit in her stomach, before she hears movement behind her, and she dives out of the way, just before the ground where she was standing collapsed

Looking back at what was behind her, Maria had to blink and stare at what had apparently tried to kill her. Three small creatures were looking at her, with green fluffs on their heads and the back of their hands, and dark brown skin.

Maria looked at Reyna for an explanation but Reyna seemed just as confused as Maria felt, her hand on the shaft of the spear she still carried with her.

The creatures looked around, before looking at Maria, and what seemed to be fear crossed their face. They started to back up, eyes locked on Maria's, not paying a mind to Reyna.

Maria took a second to spare a glance at Reyna, who was staring the creatures down with a glare that could only be described as wolf-like. She flicked her spear, and in a bright flash it turned into a golden blade.

That was a mistake, as the flash grabbed the attention of the unknown creatures. They whipped their head around, and looked at Reyna, the same look on their face for a brief moment, before their faces contorted in what seemed to be anger and killing intent.

Before Maria could even move, the little gremlin-looking creatures transformed into whirlwinds of nature, wind and plants and soil. Reyna was surrounded by the three monsters.

To Reyna's credit, she didn't back down from the fight that easily. She swung, and stabbed with her blade, trying to destroy the creatures. Unfortunately, they weren't solid, so her blade went through the creatures.

Maria tried to think about what these creatures could be, deciding they aren't Roman or Greek based on Reyna's confusion about them. They also seemed afraid of her, but she couldn't place why.

One of the creatures made the mistake of reforming into a solid, and Reyna took the chance to slash it across the chest. The creature stumbled back, and Maria could see the blood, golden and real, dripping from the creature's chest, and a memory flooding back into her mind

_"They say if you were to cut an old tree, they would bleed. The poor kodama who inhabits and embodies the tree would be hurt by such an act."_

"Kodama!" The creatures seemed to stop their assault on Reyna at the mention of their name, giving Reyna enough time to get out of the way of them, her armor and body covered in small cuts and grass stains.

"Kodama?" Reyna looked at Maria with a look of confusion on her face, obviously having met a monster that she has no idea how to fight.

"Tree spirits. Normally passive." Maria glances at the creatures as the turn back into their swirling form. Maria dives to side and catches a glimpse of Reyna diving to the opposite direction.

The kodama swirled in place, almost like contemplating who to attack, before swirling after Reyna. Maria mentally made a note that kodama hated Reyna.

Reyna was one step ahead of them, making a quirk sidestep, and throwing her sword towards Maria, it landing just at her feet. "Use this!"

Maria picked up the blade and nearly jumped out of her skin when Bianca whispered in her ear, "You have to do this. Reyna is strong, but she is not connected to that world like you are. Imagine the coldest, darkest, and most terrible moment in your life. Darkness will help you here."

Maria didn't like the way Bianca said that, but right now Reyna was being chased by tornados of dirt, leaves, and spiteful nature spirits, and as comical as it seemed, Maria figured that it would end badly.

_"You were a mistake! Your mother didn't want you! I didn't want you! I only agreeded to adopt you because the orphanage said that I'd get paid enough to take care of you, but I guess that's a lie too. Go kill yourself, and don't think about coming here ever again."_

She could tell it was working before she even started. The grass around her started to wither, the temperature dropped to freezing, and the kodama stopped in their tracks. Maria shuddered as she took the sword, the painful words repeating in her head over and over, and shoved the tip of the blade into the ground.

She had expected it to stick, or to get buried up the hilt she was holding. She wasn't expecting the blade to make a crack that expanded, until it was beneath the nature spirits, and it seemed to draw them down.

"Begone!" Maria felt a her stomach start to burn, and something in her shattered. All of the misery she had felt in that one moment, that one driving moment that Bianca told her to use, vanished. She watched as the kodama were dragged into the earth, and as it sealed itself

Things seemed to be looking up for Maria, until she felt the point of something on her neck and she cursed herself for thinking like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kodama: Japanese Nature Spirits, similar to Dryads.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I tried. First fanfic for this fandom, so... yeah.


End file.
